AROUND 250 jobs have been saved following the successful buyout of ailing rubbish collection business Barna Waste and Recycling.

The Galway-based company has been bought by its existing management and new corporate restructuring firm Cognito Asset Management.

Barna employs 250 people and has more than 30,000 customers in Galway, Roscommon, Mayo, Leitrim and Sligo.

An examiner was appointed to the company and its subsidiary Joe McLoughlin Waste Disposal in April. The companies owed significant debts to Royal Bank of Scotland and the Revenue Commissioners which they were unable to service, but made sales of £26m (€29m) last year. The High Court heard that increased costs and competition had challenged its operations.

"Barna has a number of strengths including significant assets, transfer stations with Environmental Protection Agency licenses in strategic locations and a significant customer base which we will continue to expand. The business is now adequately capitalised with sufficient resources to fund much needed capital expenditure to improve operating performance and grow the business," said a Cognito spokesperson.

A family-owned business founded in 1993 by Galway residents Sean and Annette Curran, Barna has the largest waste transfer station in Connacht. It offers commercial and domestic waste disposal services and septic tank maintenance.

Its purchase is one of the first deals by buyer Cognito Asset Management, which was founded three months ago by director Pat O'Sullivan.